Jewels vs Vegetables
by bellagill92
Summary: From one side she got diamonds, from the other she got asparagus... who would have guessed Erza Scarlet would one day reject the former and take the latter? It was all about the bearer, in the end. Jerza Week 2015 Day 3 – Diamonds.


**A/N: Three posts in three days - luckily, this one was already well underway because I was quite busy today. Next one is probably not until Saturday or later, depending on how fat I write it.**

 **This takes place shortly after my fic 'Nutrition 101' (I would advise you read it first), in which Jellal and Erza have just moved in together as housemates rather than a live-in couple (even though they are dating). The no PDA in the house rule is still in effect.**

 **In all, this probably classifies only as a drabble or something, but I hope you like it!**

Jellal heard a groan coming from the living room as he washed his hands at the kitchen sink. " _Not again,"_ he heard Erza saying.

He raised an eyebrow. Such a statement came not a minute after he had handed her a package that had arrived that afternoon in the mail with her name on it and no return address. He had thought the package suspicious but upon pressing his ear to it and hearing no ticking, he figured that whatever it might be, Erza could handle it. Still, he couldn't help but feel curious about what it might be, which was why rather than going back to chopping the vegetables he was preparing for dinner, he stepped back into the living room to take a peak.

"Erza? What is it? I heard you saying… _Oh my god, what is that?!_ " he all but shouted when he saw what she was holding in her hand. It was a necklace. Not only a necklace but also a necklace that sparkled. A lot. " _Are those real diamonds?!"_ They covered every inch of the necklace – bigger ones (the largest roughly the size of a baby's fist) at the front and smaller ones covering the whole way between those and the fastenings. It looked… _very expensive._

"I am no jeweler, but I am fairly certain that they were," Erza said, sounding more annoyed than impressed.

"Why is there someone sending you diamonds that must be worth far more than Fairy Tail's Guild building by mail?!" he had to ask. "Wait, is it part of some job? Are you supposed to deliver those somewhere?"

"No, they are a gift from Ichiya," she pointed out. "Can't you smell it?"

It wasn't until she asked that he _did_ smell it. The perfume… sweet Mavis, it was almost sickeningly intense. How hadn't he noticed it before? Perhaps he had been too aggravated… which he still was. "Why… why is Ichiya randomly sending you diamond necklaces by mail?" He might or might not be feeling a tad… stung by that. Not jealous. He was not a jealous person! Just… confused and slightly disturbed that someone other than him was sending girlfriend jewelry. Sure, he was aware of the man's almost obsessive fascination with Erza (some people might even say he detested the man for it, something that he would vehemently deny, of course, because he was not a petty person) but sending her clearly unspeakably expensive jewelry? And by mail of all things? Was that even safe?

"Because he is an _idiot,_ " Erza said through her teeth, carelessly dumping the necklace back into the cardboard box it had been sent in. She produced a watch out of her requip space and frowned at it. "Blast! The post office will already be closed at this hour. I won't be able to ship this back to him until Monday…"

Ship it? "Wait… you're sending it back?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking if it wasn't obvious. "Of course. I wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea."

"Seems like he already has," Jellal mumbled. It wasn't until he'd already said it that he realized how petty that might sound. "I mean…"

"Yes, and one has got to wonder what sort of medical problem keeps his mind from processing the word 'no' every time I say it to him," Erza agreed, clearly not bothered whatsoever by his words. She sighed then. "I wonder if the news of our relationship have reached him yet. I haven't run into him recently, so I never got the chance to inform him myself. I should probably write a note to send along with this – one that makes clear I am not available anymore… maybe he will stop sending me jewelry then."

He frowned. "So he does it often? Send you jewelry?"

Erza sighed. "I wouldn't call it extremely often, but often enough for it to be annoying. It usually happens around this time of the year. Hibiki told me once that it's when his mother visits… she bothers him quite a bit concerning his single status and wanting grandchildren and he… well, he gets desperate and tries to buy my love. Irrationally so, even. There was quite a bit of loot waiting for me at Fairy Hills when I returned from that seven-year-long incident at Tenrou Island."

Jellal blinked. Sure, like Ichiya, he had refused to acknowledge Erza's alleged death for those ten years, but to do it with jewelry…

"Honestly, I don't know where he got the idea that I would appreciate being given diamonds," Erza mumbled, giving the necklace inside the box an unimpressed look.

"Don't all girls like them?" he had to ask, being fully convinced that such a notion was a fact. "They're so… sparkly." And expensive. So expensive.

"It is a fact that they are sparkly, but I find them too cold-looking," Erza said. "I much prefer other more colorful gems like rubies or blue sapphires… even emeralds despite green not being one of my favorite colors. Those can be sparkly too."

"Yeah… sparkly…" He moved to stand by her side, staring at the diamond necklace. She was right, the diamonds were beautiful but they seemed cold and very much unlike anything she'd wear. She was color – the fierce red of her hair, the bright blue of her guild mark… But still, the gift had been very expensive and it made him feel a bit…

"What is it?" Erza asked.

"Nothing. It's just… he really does go out of his way to spoil you. It makes me feel a bit… inferior."

She frowned. "Don't. My affections are not for sale," she said sternly.

"I know, I know but… I don't even pay rent for living here. As opposed to Ichiya, I'm starting to feel like a bit of a bum."

"Don't be silly, Jellal – you know that your rent is more than paid through the services you provide me with," she reminded him. And then, realizing the implication of her words, she blushed incredibly hard. "Cooking services! I mean cooking services! And laundry! And… other household-chore-related services!" And occasional romance outside of the boundaries of the house…

Jellal was blushing too. "I… see."

"Besides, I am the one who insisted in this living arrangement," she said. Mostly, so that he wouldn't have somewhere to run away from her. "You were planning to get a place of your own, so that hardly classifies you as a 'bum' as you so colorfully put it. So, don't waste time comparing yourself with Ichiya – that seems downright ridiculous. Not to mention wrong!" Mostly, because he was so much superior as far as her opinion went, no matter how loaded Ichiya might be. "I am perfectly happy with buying my own jewelry. Of course, if you want to spoil me, there are other ways to do it…"

He knew immediately what she meant. "I am not letting you have cake for dinner," Jellal warned her. "We talked about this Erza… remember the little field trip Porlyusica sent us on." A funeral home, which would have been her next stop if she kept on living on sweets.

She frowned. "Not even a little slice for dessert?"

He thought of it for a moment. "If you eat your vegetables…"

She made a face. "There are vegetables?! Why? We have had them just last Tuesday! Is that not enough?"

"You need to eat them at least twice a week. It's for your own good, Erza."

She pouted like a child. "To think I am offered diamonds from one side and vegetables from the other. The irony…"

He sighed. "You know, it's still not too late for you to re-consider Ichiya's offer," he offered.

"Mavis, _no!_ He can have his diamonds. I'd much rather take you and your crateful of broccoli!"

"It's asparagus, actually," he pointed out.

For a moment, there was an expression of utter disgust on her face. " _Love hurts_ ," she said under her breath.

Jellal caught the words, though, and couldn't help grinning like a little maniac.

 **The End**


End file.
